Clever Travel Companion Outwits Pick-Pockets

I don’t believe I have ever before written a whole article on what my 13-year-old calls “underditties” – but believe me, these are no ordinary undies.

We normally don’t travel with large amounts of cash, but we were renting an apartment in Venice for 10 days and although they would take our deposit via PayPal, we had to be prepared to pay the entire remaining amount in euros – cash -- on arrival.

Now you can only take so much out of an ATM in any day, so there was nothing to do but carry nearly $2000 in cash. Through airports, on the bus and vaporetto, and along the street while hauling luggage (there are no taxis in Venice). Obviously our wallets were not the right place for all this cash, so this was a perfect time for me to test the samples I’d been sent by Clever Travel Companion.

Flat pockets in the front of Clever Travel Companion men’s T-shirts and women’s tank tops, and in the front of women’s underpants are big enough to hold a passport, credit cards and cash, and the high-quality fabric is sturdy enough so their weight doesn’t make a big sagging bulge. Everything was held firmly – but comfortably -- against us.

We stashed bills in the pockets of my husband’s T-shirt, my panties and Mary’s tank top. Because these were not only underneath our clothes, but held tight to our bodies without need for a body wallet, nothing showed. Even if we’d been outright robbed, there was no sign we were carrying anything hidden.

Later, when I wanted to wear a skirt without a belt to attach my body wallet to, I discovered that the ladies briefs are made so they can be worn with the pockets in back or front. For money and credit cards, front was better, but for something as stiff as a passport, I wore them with the pockets in back so I could sit down comfortably.

Their cut was the same front to back, and the firm, stretchy fabric made them perfectly comfortable either way. So I carried Mary’s and my passports in the underwear pockets. Had anyone tried to pat me on the bottom they would have gotten a surprise, but the stiff passports didn’t show because they were hugged close to by the snug underwear. After showing it upon boarding the plane, Mary zipped her passport into her tank top pocket so it would be safe but handy for immigration inspection on arrival.

In most foreign countries it is required to carry a passport at all times if you don’t have a local identity card, and in Italy you can be fined for not having it to show it with your rail pass. Plus I’m a Nervous Nellie abroad and always want my passport with me. Now even when I’m dressed up in the evening I can do that easily.

Mary occasionally needed to prove she was only 13 to get reduced admissions several places, and she discovered that she could turn her tank top around and carry her passport in the back even more comfortably on days when she wasn’t likely to need it. But it was available if she did.

The quality of the fabric and stitching is tops – these are well made undies, not flimsy, so I know they will last well. I found that they dried well overnight if I topped off the seams and band with the hair-dryer in the morning – I washed mine to wear repeatedly because I found them so handy.

The final proof was about four days into the trip when my husband said “When we get home, I want to order three more of these T-shirts. There’s no reason to take any others on a trip.” My thoughts exactly!